Adjustable sign support

ABSTRACT

An adjustable support structure for temporary sign displays formed from a vertically oriented rigid panel having a plurality of length and angle adjustable support arms. Each arm has a distal end thumb screw attachment to a T-nut on the sign. The arm is adjustably anchored to the panel by a bolt extending from the panel through a longitudinal oval slot in the arm to engage a wingnut. Additional hardware prevents loss of movable parts. Sign stiffening battens are tethered to the panel. A stiffening tray parallely spaced apart from the back of the panel further bears against and secures the support arms.

PRIOR APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisionalapplication Serial No. 60/353,876 filed Feb. 2, 2002,

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] This invention relates to signs and advertising displays and moreparticularly to adjustable mechanisms for mounting temporary advertisingsigns.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Referring now to FIG. 1, fast food restaurants have long employedpermanent outdoor order stands 1 typically having back-lighted displays2 indicating various items for sale and their prices in combination witha microphone and speaker assembly 3 for taking orders from customers.Periodically, fast food restaurants have found it advantageous to runlimited duration promotional campaigns for new products, prizegive-aways or other items of marketing interest to their customers. Thepromotional campaigns often include the display of temporary signs 4carrying information about the campaign. It is useful to display suchtemporary signs in prominent locations where customers will havefrequent view of them. One such high customer traffic area is the orderstand. Typically, the sign is supported atop the stand using a holder 5formed by a vertical rigid panel 6 attached along an orthogonal base 7.The panel has a number of screw holes 8 for allowing the temporaryattachment of the sign thereto.

[0004] There are drawbacks to this type of existing sign support device.First, the frequently used large, bulky or odd-shaped signs are notadequately supported for wind and other weather occurrences which maybend the sign at its extremities. Further, the deployment andtaking-down of the sign is a time consuming process requiring anadequate level of skill to properly align holes in the sign with holeson the panel. Sometimes, holes must be drilled through the sign on siteduring deployment and located according to available holes in the panel,leading to potentially unsightly placement of fasteners which interferewith the content of the sign. For example, if the sign content displayedan image of a human model, a fastener might appear on the nose of themodel, or on some other, more distracting location. Lastly, fastenerhardware such as nuts and bolts often become lost or misplaced betweenthe frequent changeovers of the signs.

[0005] Existing temporary signs are typically made from a pair ofsemi-rigid plastic sheets sandwiching a reinforcing corrugated plasticstructure between.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The principal and secondary objects of this invention are toprovide a mounting system for temporary signage in association with apermanent structure which provides for adjustability and adequatesupport of various shaped signs, which provides for easy attachment anddetachment, and which discourages the loss or misplacement of fasteninghardware.

[0007] These and other objects are achieved by providing a support panelhaving a plurality of length and angle adjustable support arms havingthe attachment hardware permanently attached thereto and tethered signstiffening battens.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0008]FIG. 1 is a prior art diagrammatic perspective view of a displayand stand combination.

[0009]FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a first embodiment ofa holder according to the invention for temporarily supporting a sign.

[0010]FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a support armtaken along line 3-3.

[0011]FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic back plan view of the support arm of FIG.3.

[0012]FIG. 5 is an enlarged diagrammatic cross-sectional view of thedistal end fastener of the support arm of FIG. 3.

[0013]FIG. 6 is an enlarged diagrammatic cross-sectional view of thesliding and pivoting anchorment of the support arm of FIG. 3.

[0014]FIG. 7 is an enlarged diagrammatic cross-sectional view of analternate embodiment of the sliding and pivoting anchorment.

[0015]FIG. 8 is an enlarged diagrammatic partial perspective view of anend of a rigidizing batten according to the invention.

[0016]FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an alternateembodiment of a holder according to the invention having front and backpanels sandwiching the support arms.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0017] Referring now to the drawing, there is shown in FIG. 2, a holder10 for supporting a temporary sign 11. The holder has a substantiallyvertically oriented rigid planar panel 12 made from durable rigid sheetmaterial such as rolled stainless steel, and in the present embodimenthaving a width dimension 13 of about 30 inches, a height dimension 14 ofabout 15 inches and a thickness of about {fraction (1/16)} inch.Extending rearwardly and orthogonally from a bottom edge of the panel isa base 15 which is fastenable through mounting holes 16 to the top of astand or other fixed structure.

[0018] The holder further employs means for supporting and rigidizingthe sign. First, the sign is first supported along its lower edge 20 bya pair of retaining ledge members 21,22. Each ledge member is formed tohave an elongated generally U-shaped body turned upwardly so as toprovide a top channel 23 sized and shaped to accept the lower edge ofthe sign therein. The ledge members are attached to the front surface ofthe panel near its bottom edge using a layer of double-sided sticky tape24. The length 25 of each ledge member is preferably at least one halfthe width dimension of the panel and most preferably about 24 inches inthe present embodiment.

[0019] Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, further means for adjustablysupporting the sign are provided by a plurality of length adjustable andangularly adjustable support arms 30,31,32,33. Each arm comprises agenerally elongated body 34 made from rigid, durable material such asstainless steel formed to have a flattened base portion 35 for restingagainst the planar back surfaces 36,37 of the panel and sign. Rigidizingflanges 38,39 extend rearwardly from the opposite lateral edges of thebase portion creating a central valley 40. The body may also be formedas an aluminum extrusion.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 5, the body of the support arm has a firstdistal end 41 upon which is mounted a fastening assembly 42 having a pin43 having an anterior threaded portion 44 adapted to penetrate through ahole 45 in the sign 11 to engage a T-nut or button nut 46 having ananterior widened head portion for bearing against the front surface 47of the sign. The pin is actuated by thumb-screw wings 48 to releasablyfasten to the button nut and hence the sign. The pin is permanently butrotatively attached to the arm using a snap ring 49 which radiallyengages a cylindrical groove 50 in the pin posterior to the threadingoptionally, a spacer 51 integrated with the snap ring, is selected toadjust for the thickness of the support panel thereby providing a planarbearing for the sign. Alternately, the thickness of the snap ring can beselected to provide this function.

[0021] Referring back to FIG. 2, in this way, a support arm 31 canprovide support a greater distance 55 away from the periphery 56 of thepanel to discourage bending of the panel in the wind.

[0022] Referring now to FIGS. 3,4, and 6, each support arm 30 isadjustably mounted to the panel 12 at a sliding and pivoting anchorment60. The arm has a medial elongated oval slot 61 penetratingfront-to-back through the base portion 35 or the arm body. The slot iselongated along the major axis of the body. The width 62 of the slot isselected to allow penetration of a mounting screw carriage bolt 63therethrough. The bolt extends from a recessed hole 64 in the frontsurface of the panel through the slot 61 and through a generallyquadrangular nylon slider 65 and protective washer 66. The slider issized to rest within the valley of the body. When tightened, a wingnut67 releasably anchors the arm to the panel in a fixed angular andsliding orientation. An acorn nut 68 prevents unscrewing the wingnutfrom the bolt to reduce lost parts.

[0023] Referring back to FIG. 2, the axial length 70 and location of theslot is selected to maximize adjustability of the sliding movement ofthe arm while maintaining adequate leverage against rearward movement ofthe arm's distal end 41. Therefore, the proximal end of the slot 71terminates a distance 72 from the proximal end of the arm 73, therebyforming what amounts to a flattened extension to provide additionalleverage support and rigidity for the positioning of the arm by bearingagainst the back surface of the panel. Preferably, the distance will beat least ⅙ the length of the slot, and more preferably at least ¼ thelength of the slot. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that thedimensions of the above described features should be selected to avoidinterference between two or more arms.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 7, an alternate embodiment of the sliding andpivoting anchorment 80 provides greater stability through a slider 81having a prominence 82 sized to closely engage the slot 83.

[0025] The above description reveals that the arms can be adjusted toprovide support using holes in the sign predrilled at preferred,content-unobtrusive locations.

[0026] Referring to FIGS. 2-4 and 8, further sign rigidizing means areprovided by a plurality of battens 90,91,92 in the form of cylindricalrods made from strong rigid material such as steel. Each rod is sizedand shaped to penetrate through a pre-existing corrugation channel 93formed between the undulating inner sheet 94 and either the front sheet95 or back sheet of the sign 96. Most preferably, a channel formed withthe back sheet is selected to avoid a possible unsightly bulge on thefront of the sign. The rods preferably have a length 97 which will beshort enough to remain hidden once the battens are in place, but longenough to provide stiffening across the weakest points of the sign andto locate at least a portion 98 of the rod near to the panel or supportarm such as a distance of not more than ⅕ the length of the rod. In thepresent embodiment the battens are preferably as long as the majordimension of the shortest support arm.

[0027] Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 8, means for preventing loss of abatten 91 comprise a tether 100 having a first end 101 anchored to a topend 102 of the batten by passing through a hole 103 and terminating in aknot. The opposite end 104 of the tether attaches similarly to the panel12.

[0028] Referring back to FIG. 2, there is shown an alternate embodimentof an adjustable support arm 32 wherein an arcuate aperture 110 borderedby a recessed flange is cut through the panel along an angular track afixed radial distance 111 from the pivot point 112. A second adjustabletightening screw 113 through the arm slot and having a wingnuttightening means further stabilizes the positioning of the pin withinthe aperture.

[0029] Also shown in FIG. 2 is a second alternate embodiment of anadjustable support arm 33 wherein a series of holes 120 through thepanel are formed in an arc along an angular track a fixed radialdistance from the pivot point 121. A spring loaded bolt 122 is sized topenetrate through one of the holes to provide additional angular andsliding stabilization to the arm of course such support is only providedat fixed positions. The bolt may remain retracted at other orientations.

[0030] Referring now to FIG. 9, there is shown a holder 130 according toan alternate embodiment of the invention. Similarly to the priorembodiment, the holder has a substantially vertically oriented rigidplanar front panel 131 made from durable rigid sheet material, and abase 132 extending rearwardly and orthogonally from a bottom edge of thepanel which is fastenable to a fixed structure through mounting holes133. The holder also has a substantially vertically oriented rigidplanar rear panel or tray 134 made from durable rigid sheet material.Rigidizing flanges 135 extend rearwardly from the peripheral edges ofthe tray to provide further rigidization. The front and rear panels areparallelly spaced apart to allow positioning of one or more support arms136 therebetween. Angled braces 137 further support the rear panel andbond to the base 132 to minimize interference with movement of the arms.Similarly to the prior embodiment, each support arm 136 has a fasteningassembly 138 mounted near its distal end, and a sliding and pivotinganchorment 139 to allow adjustment and securement of each arm. Thesandwiching action of the front and rear panels provide bearing surfacesto pinch against corresponding front and back surfaces of the supportarm further securing the arms in place and serving to stiffen andstrengthen the entire holder.

[0031] While the preferred embodiments of the invention have beendescribed, modifications can be made and other embodiments may bedevised without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sign holder comprises: a substantiallyvertically oriented panel having bottom edges and peripheral edges; afirst support arm pivotably and slidingly attached to said panel whereinsaid arm comprises: an oblong body having a major axis and a proximalend and an opposite distal end; and, a fastener attached to said distalend for attaching to said sign.
 2. The holder of claim 1, which furthercomprises an ledge member bonded to a bottom potion of said panel andoriented to contact and retain a lower edge of said sign.
 3. The holderof claim 1, which further comprises means for adjusting a first distancebetween said distal end and said panel.
 4. The holder of claim 3,wherein said means for adjusting comprise: said body being shaped tohave an axially oblong slot extending therethrough; and a tightenablebolt passing through said slot and engaging said panel, whereby saidbolt, when tightened, fixes an orientation of said arm with respect tosaid panel.
 5. The holder of claim 4, wherein said bolt forms a pivotpoint between said arm and said panel.
 6. The holder of claim 5, whichfurther comprises an arcuate aperture cut through said panel along aradial distance from said pivot point.
 7. The holder of claim 6, whichfurther comprises a second tightenable bolt extending from said armthrough said aperture, whereby said bolt, when tightened, fixes anorientation of said arm with respect to said panel.
 8. The holder ofclaim 5, which further comprises: a plurality of holes cut through saidpanel along a track a radial distance from said pivot point; and aspring loaded pin extending from said arm and sized to engage one ofsaid holes, thereby fixing an angular orientation between said arm andsaid panel.
 9. The holder of claim 1, which further comprises astiffening batten sized and shaped to engage a corrugation fold on saidsign.
 10. The holder of claim 9, which further comprises a flexibletether having a first end attached to said batten and a second endattached to said panel.
 11. The holder of claim 1, which furthercomprises: a substantially vertically oriented tray spaced apart fromsaid panel.
 12. The holder of claim 11, wherein said tray has a firstsurface bearing against said first support arm.
 13. The holder of claim12, wherein said tray and said panel pinch said first support armtherebetween.